Nintendo Defends $70 Price Tag for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Nintendo Defends $70 Price Tag for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
by jhd9012
29 Comments
MasterRedx
Does this need defending? We already know we’re getting quality.
loztriforce
I think one reason is to push for the game vouchers.
Squish_the_android
I bought it with discounted eShop credit and a Voucher. If it didn’t work out to about $40 I’d have likely waited for a sale.
Ravenson420
Defend it all they want; I’m not buying it now.
Zestyclose-Move-9575
They know the sweaty neckbeards will buy it no problem
cloroxbb
Does Walmart still discount new releases by $10 if you buy in person? If so, I’ll buy mine there. But $70 doesn’t deter me at all. I don’t buy many games on day one and at full price, but for Zelda… I definitely would.
ObsiGamer
$60 in 2017 adjusted to inflation is $73.76 today. It’s cheaper than Breath of the Wild.
skeytwo
Whatever it’s $10 – video game prices have been stable for quite some time so the bump isn’t surprising especially since physical copies are sold
Stumpy493
I mean if they can defend $60 for Skyward Sword Re Release then $70 for an actual cutting edge, brand new Zelda title should be easy.
Wubbzy-mon
The big problem, is that Americans are now dealing with a $70 price tag. Nothing has changed besides the price tag, so only now people have issues. We didn’t know much about BOTW until it was almost ready to come out, there was pre-announced DLC, and it costed $70 everywhere *except* America. So now that the $70 price tag hits Americans, Americans are upset at it (and other things which they now take issue with).
awful_ps4_themes
If they’re going to charge $70 for games with above average development costs, they really should make $40 the standard for ports
Riomegon
Did you actually think they could claim otherwise?
Illustrious_Cold2176
It would be a guy named “Bowser” trying to justify the pricing lmao.
fegis123
Nintendo is betting people will still buy it, and that’s why they brought vouchers again here to soften the price increase.
MBCnerdcore
It’s 2023 we can’t pay 2008 prices forever
Dreyfus2006
TL;DR, Nintendo said that TotK being $70 is justified because it is a “deeply immersive experience.”
It’s a dumb argument though. Paper Mario 64, Pikmin 1, and Metroid Prime are all deeply immersive experiences. All three are among the 15 greatest games of all time. So should those games be priced at $70? Nintendo just released MP1 for $40.
E: I think people are missing my point. I am saying that according to their argument, those games should cost $70 *now*. Not back on their release.
Generic_Lad
A $70 price tag for a late-generation game is simply insane, games do not become more difficult to develop — they become easier. It doesn’t become more expensive to develop games as technology increases, it makes them much easier.
Just think about how much has made game development easier from the first BoTW:
1 – The maturity of telecommuting technologies and related technologies means that many of the traditional costs with staffing can be greatly reduced. Meetings that before may have to be in-person and incurring travelling costs can now be done over Zoom or other methods. Internet speeds are faster. Fiber (crucial for good upload speeds) is becoming more and more commonplace
2 – The price for development machines have decreased dramatically. Computers that could have cost thousands back when BoTW was still in development can now be found for close to free. Switch development units also would have decreased in price.
3 – The engine is already there, developers already have experience with working with the Switch’s hardware and its limitations. Things that may have taken time and experience to initially figure out are now common knowledge
At no other time in human history have development costs been so cheap, especially for a “known” console like the Switch.
rct1
Ya it’s $96 Canadian dollars.
I’m probably no longer buying this at launch at least.
I can immerse myself in a full price AAA game on Steam AND something on sale and probably fit an indie game or second sale game into the budget too if I plan well.
Dukemon102
Just say it’s because of the larger cartridge and that you’re forced to have the same price both physicially and digitally due to retailers, instead of making up that stupid argument.
The vouchers were the way out for digital only people.
point051
They know it won’t hurt sales.
The_polar_opposite
The expansion pass will be 49.99
Cyba_Cowboy
I’m not sure what currency you’re referring to, but this title is AU$89.95 (~US$59.94 / ~€55.86 / ~£49.20 / ~CA$82.33) for the “standard” edition, which is relatively cheap when compared to *most* “AAA” titles… What’s your point?
StrawberryFields_
For $70, I hope there is no lag, especially in the Korok Forest.
puddlepirate64
What imma do? Not play this game?! Take my money
MathStock
Nintendo. Nickel and dining their customers. Nothing new.
I’m sure the game will be good though. I’ll be getting it. But not at 70 dollars.
Admirable_Ad1947
Meh, if the game is good I’ll still pay it.
AllModsRLosers
They can charge what they want, and our right as consumers is to buy it, or not buy it.
I promise you, if sales were going to disappoint at $70, they’d sell is at $60.
Ultimately it is (IMO) some of the cheapest fun you can have, given the time/dollar ratio.
suedehelpme
I don’t see a lot of nuance in these discussions. Yes, it’s inevitable for games to go up in price. It’s happening on other consoles, budgets for games are going up, and the price of *everything* is going up. There was also time when some Nintendo 64 games were costing 70 1990s dollars at launch, well over $100 dollars today.
But it’s also weird to see Nintendo pull this on this game of all things. Waiting until the next gen would have just been a better time to do it in terms of optics. So far as we know, this game isn’t going to be anything particularly groundbreaking. It’s a fairly straightforward sequel which heavily reuses assets from its predecessor. Technologically, the hardware it’s running on is as cutting edge as a butter knife. GBA games were never the same price as Xbox games, so why should Switch games necessarily be as expensive as PS5 games? The price tag may be a result of the larger file size, which will require a larger than usual cartridge.
sandouken
Sony has been selling 70€ games since they released the PS4. I remember doing the conversion and that ended up as 84USD.
They have now increased the price to 80€ on PS5 games.
At least on the switch, I can just use a voucher that will bring the price down to 50€
29 Comments
Does this need defending? We already know we’re getting quality.
I think one reason is to push for the game vouchers.
I bought it with discounted eShop credit and a Voucher. If it didn’t work out to about $40 I’d have likely waited for a sale.
Defend it all they want; I’m not buying it now.
They know the sweaty neckbeards will buy it no problem
Does Walmart still discount new releases by $10 if you buy in person? If so, I’ll buy mine there. But $70 doesn’t deter me at all. I don’t buy many games on day one and at full price, but for Zelda… I definitely would.
$60 in 2017 adjusted to inflation is $73.76 today. It’s cheaper than Breath of the Wild.
Whatever it’s $10 – video game prices have been stable for quite some time so the bump isn’t surprising especially since physical copies are sold
I mean if they can defend $60 for Skyward Sword Re Release then $70 for an actual cutting edge, brand new Zelda title should be easy.
The big problem, is that Americans are now dealing with a $70 price tag. Nothing has changed besides the price tag, so only now people have issues. We didn’t know much about BOTW until it was almost ready to come out, there was pre-announced DLC, and it costed $70 everywhere *except* America. So now that the $70 price tag hits Americans, Americans are upset at it (and other things which they now take issue with).
If they’re going to charge $70 for games with above average development costs, they really should make $40 the standard for ports
Did you actually think they could claim otherwise?
It would be a guy named “Bowser” trying to justify the pricing lmao.
Nintendo is betting people will still buy it, and that’s why they brought vouchers again here to soften the price increase.
It’s 2023 we can’t pay 2008 prices forever
TL;DR, Nintendo said that TotK being $70 is justified because it is a “deeply immersive experience.”
It’s a dumb argument though. Paper Mario 64, Pikmin 1, and Metroid Prime are all deeply immersive experiences. All three are among the 15 greatest games of all time. So should those games be priced at $70? Nintendo just released MP1 for $40.
E: I think people are missing my point. I am saying that according to their argument, those games should cost $70 *now*. Not back on their release.
A $70 price tag for a late-generation game is simply insane, games do not become more difficult to develop — they become easier. It doesn’t become more expensive to develop games as technology increases, it makes them much easier.
Just think about how much has made game development easier from the first BoTW:
1 – The maturity of telecommuting technologies and related technologies means that many of the traditional costs with staffing can be greatly reduced. Meetings that before may have to be in-person and incurring travelling costs can now be done over Zoom or other methods. Internet speeds are faster. Fiber (crucial for good upload speeds) is becoming more and more commonplace
2 – The price for development machines have decreased dramatically. Computers that could have cost thousands back when BoTW was still in development can now be found for close to free. Switch development units also would have decreased in price.
3 – The engine is already there, developers already have experience with working with the Switch’s hardware and its limitations. Things that may have taken time and experience to initially figure out are now common knowledge
At no other time in human history have development costs been so cheap, especially for a “known” console like the Switch.
Ya it’s $96 Canadian dollars.
I’m probably no longer buying this at launch at least.
I can immerse myself in a full price AAA game on Steam AND something on sale and probably fit an indie game or second sale game into the budget too if I plan well.
Just say it’s because of the larger cartridge and that you’re forced to have the same price both physicially and digitally due to retailers, instead of making up that stupid argument.
The vouchers were the way out for digital only people.
They know it won’t hurt sales.
The expansion pass will be 49.99
I’m not sure what currency you’re referring to, but this title is AU$89.95 (~US$59.94 / ~€55.86 / ~£49.20 / ~CA$82.33) for the “standard” edition, which is relatively cheap when compared to *most* “AAA” titles… What’s your point?
For $70, I hope there is no lag, especially in the Korok Forest.
What imma do? Not play this game?! Take my money
Nintendo. Nickel and dining their customers. Nothing new.
I’m sure the game will be good though. I’ll be getting it. But not at 70 dollars.
Meh, if the game is good I’ll still pay it.
They can charge what they want, and our right as consumers is to buy it, or not buy it.
I promise you, if sales were going to disappoint at $70, they’d sell is at $60.
Ultimately it is (IMO) some of the cheapest fun you can have, given the time/dollar ratio.
I don’t see a lot of nuance in these discussions. Yes, it’s inevitable for games to go up in price. It’s happening on other consoles, budgets for games are going up, and the price of *everything* is going up. There was also time when some Nintendo 64 games were costing 70 1990s dollars at launch, well over $100 dollars today.
But it’s also weird to see Nintendo pull this on this game of all things. Waiting until the next gen would have just been a better time to do it in terms of optics. So far as we know, this game isn’t going to be anything particularly groundbreaking. It’s a fairly straightforward sequel which heavily reuses assets from its predecessor. Technologically, the hardware it’s running on is as cutting edge as a butter knife. GBA games were never the same price as Xbox games, so why should Switch games necessarily be as expensive as PS5 games? The price tag may be a result of the larger file size, which will require a larger than usual cartridge.
Sony has been selling 70€ games since they released the PS4. I remember doing the conversion and that ended up as 84USD.
They have now increased the price to 80€ on PS5 games.
At least on the switch, I can just use a voucher that will bring the price down to 50€